Historically, the primary structural elements of aircraft have been constructed of aluminum alloys. Recently, many aircraft manufacturers are utilizing composite materials, such as fiber reinforced composite materials due to their high strength-to-weight ratios. However, the tooling and the manufacturing processes associated with such composite materials are not inexpensive. Accordingly, it may be desirable for an aircraft to utilize aluminum alloys for some structural elements and composite materials for other structural elements. However, aluminum alloys and composite materials are not typically compatible with each other from a corrosion standpoint or from a thermal expansion standpoint.